


The Road to Hell

by Stadakona



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Timelines, Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Language, Gavin Reed Being an Asshole, Hank Anderson & Connor Friendship, Major Original Character(s), Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rated For Violence, Slow To Update, english is not my first language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:13:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28043733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stadakona/pseuds/Stadakona
Summary: The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, which is pretty fitting for Connor. An android, made to chase android, all for the salvation of humanity… Not that it really had a say in it, what with the programming and all...Hank, while not programmed to do this, doesn't really have a say in the matter either, what with the orders and all...But, while they are placing the last slabs, the road started long before their implications. When they meet one of the first of Hell's road builders, secrets are revealed, yet more questions are raised, and they realize it might still be time to stop paving it before it reaches its destination.If Connor could just fight its programming...
Relationships: Hank Anderson & Connor & Original Character(s), Markus/North (Detroit: Become Human), Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic in a LOOOOONG time
> 
> I had this one in mind for a while now. And it's sequel. And a few one shot associated. But, one thing at the time.
> 
> There will be various languages in this fic, mainly two, which will be represented by italics when the characters understand each other and the actual language when they don't. Translations will be in order in the end notes.
> 
> I might had additional warning in the chapters' notes, but you know the game, so you know what the themes are... 
> 
> English is not my main language, so be indulgent, thank you!
> 
> \------------------  
> A bit more about the tags
> 
> Alternate Timeline: The events of the game are in order, but they take place over the course of a few weeks instead of a few days. There are some added events thought.
> 
> Major OC: The OC will change the events a bit, but not that much. The events of the game will still play out "normally". The OC will not take the roles of our favorite characters though, they're more like additional support characters in the before/after events. But, some of them ARE main characters of this story, so if you don't like OC being in the spotlight, you have been warned.

"We had it. Fuck!"

"It's my fault."

It was its fault. Why had it stopped to save the man. He had a 89% chance of survival, perfectly acceptable odds. Very good odds in fact. So why had it deviated from its course to save Lt. Anderson…

Deviated…

"I should've been faster" it added to ~~change its mind~~ from the very word. ~~It didn't like it~~ , associated with it like that.

"You would've caught it if it weren't for me…"

Connor drowned out the Lieutenant excuses has its eyes followed the deviant jumps from a building fire escape to a roof. If it's calculation were correct, and they always were, the deviant would have no choice to go on the ground soon or continue it's parcour route on that third building to the right. Either way, if Connor jumped from that ledge to that ladder…

"Eh! The fuck-" 

"Sorry Lieutenant," it screamed over its shoulder as it sprinted to the edge of the roof "but I can still catch it."

It could hear the D.P.D officer swear under his breath just as it jumped to the next building, calculating the best path to catch the deviant whether it taked the ground or the roof route.

It came so close to catch it, the deviant having loosened it's attention and pace, thinking that it had lost its pursuers. Alas, it saw Connor from the corner of its eye just as the RK800 landed on the same rooftop as it. Its eyes grew wide and it changed its course, scrambling a bit not to fall on its knee as it came back from where it landed to jump on a crane nearby and run along its arm. Conner jumped after it, so very close to catch it. It knew if it timed it just right, it could jump as the deviant jumped on the next roof and use the defective android as a cushion, effectively neutralizing it at the same ti-

It never saw the other deviant coming, but it sure felt it push it from the crane just as it was about to jump after the deviant. The last thing Conor saw as it plummeted to the ground was a male asian-looking Traci being helped up the roof by the pigeon deviant. Connor most certainly lost it this time.

**System** **error**

**  
** **Body integrity highly compromised**

**Contacting Cyberlife...**

**Contact failed**

**Seeking problematic...  
**

**Problematic found: wireless communication device destroyed**

**Stress level 87% and rising**

**Risk of systeme failure**

**Entering emergency stasis mode**

* * *

Hank stayed stunned by the android sudden departure a few seconds before shaking his head and looking at the superhuman machine jump from the roof. 

"Ah, fuck this…" he said, as if he was giving up, yet at the same time, locating the fire escape to try and catch up with his fucking piece of plastic. 

Following on the ground, he ran as fast as he could, cursing his overall shape and swearing to get in shape as a New Year resolution, if he survived that long. Turning in the general direction Connor had seemed to take, he listened for disturbance noises on the roof, keeping the the alleyway as much as possible to keep out of the traffic. Hearing the telltale sound of a body landing on a metal bin, he lifted his eyes just in time to see the deviant jump from the building to his right to the next ahead of him. At the same time, he saw "his" Cyberlife android jump and land on the exact same building. Concluding that his partner must had catched the deviant on there, the human yet again located the nearest staircase, which happened to be the main one this time. 

The building was thankfully an abandoned nine story high appartement complex, so it would took his exhausted body only over five minutes to get up there, probably. He knew by this time Connor would have apprehended the deviant, told it its crime…

'Existing?' he faltered a bit. What were this deviant crimes? Having way too many fucking pigeons in its appartement for sure, but he knew it was not why they were currently pursuing this machine. Until know, Hank had never doubted that the deviant were dangerous. All the ones he had encountered until know were violent toward humans... even if it was mostly in what appeared to be self defense. In Hank mind, it seemed as if the sudden preservation instinct was to much to handle for them and they went over the top. Stabbing a human 27 times, killing a man and then kidnapping his daughter, for leverage had assumed Hank… He was still somewhat pissed and shocked that neither the media nor the police seemed more alerted than needed in the kidnapping. Yet again, the kid at seemed more eager to follow her father's killer than being saved by the police…

In all cases, the seasoned detective had soon concluded that deviants couldn't control their fake, according to his computerized partner, emotions and would sooner or later attack humans again. That's why he had followed Connor's Terminator-like determination to apprehend them all.

But, this one… it had lived as a mysterious and elusive neighbor to a dozen of other human for who knows how long and had apparently not harmed anyone… well, except the definitive harm to anyone sense of smell. 

Finally reaching to roof, Hank closed his eyes and took the time to recollect his breath a bit before pushing the door. 

"Jesus you're fast, no wonder they want to add an android to the Gears… Connor?"

Finally opening his eyes, the lieutenant wasn't met with the sight of the android hound dog breathing down on a writhing deviants neck, like he expected, but by, well, nothing.

"CONNOR!" he attempted, louder, while scanning the surrounding buildings. "Where the fuck did it go? Connor!" 

He looked around and down. The neiborhood was relatively lively, with Urban Farm's employees coming and going, starting their shift or taking a break. Some people where packing their cars of fresh supplies from said farm and he could even see some Android on errands doing the same with automate cars. A group of young highschoolers was regrouping in front of one of the farms building, probably just finishing a pedagogical visit. The building had thankfully not been in the trajectory of the pursuit. Hank felt a cold dread at the idea of having kids hurt in the course of his duty. 

In anyways, two fighting androids would have not been able to navigate these streets without creating a general panic. Which meant they could only have ended in one of the two alleyways. 

Opting for the one opposite to the one he had just ran through, Hank walked to an abandoned working site. Looking down, his breath got caught in his throat just as his stomach turned. There, in the upturned ground, as if imprinted by some carver with a twisted artistic purpose, was the deep indent of a broken human-like form. One of the leg was shaped all wrong and the right arm seemed disconnected from the body. The whole piece was completed with bright blue "ink". 

The total absence of android could only mean one thing. Only one of the two machines would have left the fallen one alone, all too happy to disappear. Meaning that the one who had created this indent…

"Shit!"

But, that did not explain why and where the RK800's body had disappeared too.

"Shit! SHIT!"

* * *

"You sure that Véro will not be mad that we bought that instead of ice cream AGAIN? She was pretty upset last time…"

"'Are you sure' Jake, and, no, I'm sure she will be upset, but it's better for her.. and for you. Oh, don't look at me like that young man, I know exactly what you had in mind and you won't use Véronique's bad habits to nourish yours".

The boy, Jake, looked at his dad, pouting. "This is so unfair. I haven't had ice cream in like, forever"

"You had ice cream last weekend with your father, and you still have cookies at home, so don't give me that face. Plus, it's my duty as cook for you three to make sure you eat healthy and complete meals-"

"Excuse me young man, please"

Both male stopped and a mid-thirtyish woman came into view.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but hear you converse and I was completed baffled by the realism of your android caretaker speech. I'm looking for one for my children, could I know his model?"

Jake looked at his father who had resumed his polite machine-likem slighty inquisitive, posture. The LED on his temple was expertly maintaining its calm blue hue, even though they both knew the deviant felt more a red LED emotion right now. The boy internally cursed, they had spoken too loud too liberally again, hadn't they? After two years, Jake often forgot that his dad was supposedly a very dangerous machine and that they had to keep a low profile on their affiliation. So he talked to his dad like he was, well his dad, and sometime the natural of it had his deviant father lower his guard too.

At least, the both remembered not to call each other be endearing names in public.

Sighing softly, Jake looked at the android, "Well, go ahead Seb, answer her, I don't know these kind of things."

"Certainly Jacob." Nodding to the boy, he then looked at the expecting lady, "I'm a AP400 madam, though I must warn you that the genuineness that you seem to appreciate from me comes from my years at the service of this young man's family. I came to understand what was expected of me in dialogues. A new model might not have this familiarity with your children right away."

"Oh, that's a pity. But, wait, do you mean you learned to have conversations?"

"You could say that, but it is more of a selection of answers based on previous instances, commands and reactions. As a house assistant model, it is my duty to understand and remember my owners preferences so as to not make them explain them to me repeatedly. This includes appearance, general housework, food and speech selection. I was directly commanded to use certain turn of phrases throughout my time with my owners and now use them accordingly to their preferences."

"Mmmm, that is really interesting, really neat! AP400 you said."

After a brief pause that would give the perfect illusion of an android analysing and understanding that it had to answer to an indirect question, Sebastian finally stated "Correct."

"Good, great, I'll keep that in mind! Thank you for your time and answers kid, I'll let you go home now." And off she went. 

Jake huffed and they resumed their walk to the car.

"Nosy bitch"

"Language". The tone was too formal and cold, it made Jake uneasy. Lowering his voice, he looked at his father.

"Cut it out, you freaking me out. It's bad enough that you have to wear this." He was referring to the identification markers stamped on the otherwise common clothes his father wore. He didn't like it when he acted all "machiny", it tickled bad memories.

"I have to, I'm an android, I must be identified as such, it's the law." Sebastian looked down at his son, a subtle knowing look on his face, as if sharing a secret. "It comes with the job"

'It's still stupid,' he thought, crossing his arms as they reached the car and his father started to put the fresh produces' boxes in the trunk, but he didn't say it because it was a fact that didn't need to be discussed within his family. Plus, Jake knew it was true. His dad posed as the android majordome of his auntie and, if he wanted to keep the act, he had to keep the costume-

His thought were interrupted by a loud crash comming from the alley they were parked just beside of. Diverting his gaze from the glowing "ANDROID" on his father's back, he looked over and saw a pale hand atop a dirt mound. 

"Shit, d-Seb! Seb! Someone's in there!" Running has is father was telling him to wait, Jake got to the fallen man, no, android just as his father catched up with him, the last box still in his arms. 

"Jacob, you mustn't run away like that! What if you got caught in the middle of a fight", his father unrefined vocabulary was a good enough proof that he was really worried.

"I doubt he's in any state to fight," he answered while looking at the broken, unconscious android before them. "He's still alive, look at his LED! We must get him to auntie Véro!"

"I'm not sure it's a good idea Jake… I…" he looked uneasy.

"What's wrong? Of course it's a good idea, she's the best technician in town!"

"It's just… it's… it's this new detective model Jacob. It was sent specially by Cyberlife to hunt down deviants."

"It? Why do you call him it? And, it doesn't matter! He's hurt! Véro would never let an android like that, just broken on the street! Come on! We must save him!"

"Cyberlife are gonna take care of it. They're probably already alerted! We must go!"

"We must help him! Look at his state! He doesn't have time to wait for Cyberfucks!"

"If we bring it home, it'll be like releasing the wolf in the sheepfold! It'll identify, and probably kill, all of us!" 

"I don't care! He's broken, Véro's a technician, we are getting him there. We'll just have to jam his connection or something, we have all we need in the car."

Sebastian let out a shuddering breath. Why did he have to have such a big hearted, strong willed, reckless son…

"Okay, okay… fine, we will take it."

"Him."

"Him… Hold that."

Giving the grocerie box to Jacob, Sebastian worked on lifting the broken RK800 in his arm, mindfull of its state, espacially the arm that was only attached to the torso by it's cables and thorium tubing. He didn't want to give more job to Véronique. 

"He'll need thirium and fast. Once we get to the car, you'll have to take two pouches and a direct feeding cable."

"Got it!"

"I'll also need to clamp his leaking shoulder tube to stem the hemorrhage."

"I'll look for a…" looking at the tube size, he decided "medium sized clamp in the kit. And the jamming chip."

"You're really becoming good at that" Sebastian had a small sad but proud smile on his face. To be only eleven and already be so calm and know so much about android first-aid, his son must have really listened attentively at his "aunt" semi-formal courses. He also knew that meant the boy had seen way too much dead or near dead people for someone his age…

The RK800 was in a really bad state. It's left leg was broken mid-calf and bent sideways. His other leg was most definitely broken too, yet not has dramatically. Then there was the arm where the main thirium tube was thore almost completely in half. A rythmic gush of thirium spurted out with each beat of the thirium pump. It was dangerously slow and weak. 

Then came the back, which had most probably absorbed the fall. It was impressively little damaged all things considered, only slightly bent inward and a brief scan informed Sebastian that the bent caused one of the ventilation pouches to malfunction. 

They got to the car fast and Jake was already clamping the thirium tube and attaching a direct feed of thirium to the port on the broken android's neck when he finished his analyze. The jamming chip was already stuck to its LED. It was all they could do for it at the time. Jake sat down, keeping the seat facing back to check on his patient while his father started the car and instructed it to go home.

"Keep his legs elevated Jake, we want want as much thirium as possible in his upper body. If the legs shut down, we can replace them. Can't say the same about his processor and thirium core".

"On it!"

"Ok… I'll call Véro now… She'll hate this..."

Before Jake could reply, his LED, already spinning yellow since they decided to save the RK800, blinked a few time before a ring tone filled the car cabin. After the second ring, it was answered.

"Sebastian? What is it?"

"We found an android, badly damaged, fell from a nine storey"

"Shit! Okay, what's on the table"

"Two broken legs, the left one probably unrepairable, disconnect right arm chassis, the cables are still holding, but the main thirium tube his half ruptured. It's clamped. The back plates are badly bent inward, especially the upper one on the left side. The left vent' pouche can't inflate properly. The back of the head seems badly cracked, but the processor seems intact. He's skinless on the head, but doesn't seem to be elsewhere, so it's probably just caused by the cracks in the alupolymer of he's head. He has been connected via direct feed and Jake is keeping his leg up."

"Good, good, okay, there's nothing more you could do as of now. Just get here as fast as you can and I'll get ready. Tell me his model so I can prepare spare parts."

Sebastian winced a bit and exhaled. "It's a RK800…"

It was eerily silent in the car for almost a minute, the only sound the raspy "breathing" of the broken android. Then, finally, the harsh reply came in.

"Tabarnak!"


	2. Playing the part

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hank finally encounters Connor's captor-saviours and he doesn't like it.
> 
> Carl comes home from the hospital with a friend and they both grieve Markus' death.

Hank groaned as he rolled in his bed, glaring at the cellphone blaring on his nightstand. 

Last night, drinking half a bottle of whiskey straight from the neck had seemed like a marvelous idea. As always, it had numbed is hurted feelings, drowning away his sentiment of pain, powerlessness and overall self-hatred. That morning however, as every morning since he started drinking two and a half years ago, the aftereffects only served to increase the despise and shame he had for himself. It seemed that, with every drink, he needed more of the alcoholic poison to affect his mind, but the effects on his body were (thankfully?) cumulatives. If it had sadly become accustomed to the welcomed mind altering effect of alcohol, always demanding more for the slightest of result, his body had not to the actual body poisoning after effect of it.

Slamming his hand in anger on the offending device drilling noise damages in his skull, he answered the call and brought it to his ear.

"What?!" he growled in the phone, not caring if it even was the president on the other line.

"Hank for fuck sake! I can deal with your tardiness on any other day, but it's nearly noon and your android's been missing since yesterday. You better tell me you're on a lead or so help me God…"

"Jesus Christ Jeffrey, calm the fuck down would you!" He tried to rub his migraine away. "The kid's probably okay, or Cyberlife would have sent another one already…" He scowled at the four days old memory of Connor sitting at "its desk", as good as new, because it was, like it hadn't been blown to pieces by a speeding car on the highway just the day before. He had been scared out of his mind for the little girl being pulled along by an android on the same highway and hadn't realized that his partner was destroyed until he saw the two girls jump the fence on the other side, no Connor on their tail anymore. 

He had thought the kid had been done for and hadn't been sure what he felt at that time. Grief? Relief? Well, he sure as hell knew that the thing he felt at seeing him be perfectly fine the next day had been anger. What right did it have to be right as rain after being hit and rolled over by three cars in a row while a single impact in the side had sufficed to take away his…

God he craved a beer… 

Or a bullet…

At the moment, however, his captain (and friend, but he sure felt less and less like one with his recent decisions), was still screaming both their heads off on the phone, demanding answers. 

"Calm down I said, I'm working on it. Just felt I didn't need to see your sorry ass-"

"Hank, I've had it with your disrespect!" 

"- to get results on this case." He concluded uninterrupted. 

Putting him on speaker, he started to scroll on his phone for his recent emails and texts, to see if the android had attempted to reach him in the last 15 hours. It hadn't yesterday, in the four hours between its disappearance and Hank's decision to drink himself into yet another stupor. It seemed it hadn't attempted to since then either. 

Hank grumbled, walking into the kitchen and absentmindedly started his coffee machine while scrolling the rest of his texts, most of them furious inquiries from his current interlocutor. He did need to find "his android" afterall, less Cyberlife started giving them shit. Last thing he needed right now, really. Plus, if he really was honest with himself, for once, he WAS worried about his plastic biped poodle. No matter how hard he tried not to, how bad he knew this was fated to end, he was getting attached to the stupidly careless, deadly stunts prone… machine?

While exchanging more or less biting insults with his technically still friend, dodging threats of suspension with the ease his alcoholic, but still greatly efficient, detective ass had developed throughout recent years, Hank's attention was hooked by a series of text that had been sent by an unknown number. The most recent one read, 'I understand that you are busy with work, so I will not be bothering you anymore. It just went into stasis to recharge more efficiently. Do please reach out to me as soon as possible so we can decide on the next courses of actions. Again, have a good day.' and it was signed 'Dr. Poitras'.

Frowning, he scrolled back to the first text, received at 2:37 that morning, a few dozen minutes after he had finally dragged his wreck of a body to bed. "Let me think a minute Jeffrey, I think I have a lead." He read the first, oddly professional looking, text.

'Good early morning Lieutenant Anderson,

I understand that you might possibly be sleeping or on a crime scene at the moment, so I preferred to text you instead of calling and bothering you.

My name is Véronique Poitras, I'm the owner and lead technician of the F.A.R.M. I think my nephew might have found an android belonging to the DPD last afternoon. It was in a terrible state and I took it upon myself to repair its more urgent damages. It just now rebooted and gave me your name and number so I could call you. It can't use its own communication devices for the moment, as they need repair too. 

Now that it's not at risk of total shut down, I will need your authorization to continue my repairs. Know that its "life" is not in danger anymore and we have plenty of room at the F.A.R.M. to keep it for a while, if need be. However, some damaged parts can cause some stress on its system and I would advise to address them as soon as possible.

We can also send it back to Cyberlife for you if they already sent a replacement. It told us it was a possibility.

Whatever you decide, you can call me back at this very number anytime between 8:00 am and 9:00 pm. Or simply come directly at the F.A.R.M., our address is on our web site. 

Have a good day,

Dr. Véronique Poitras'

He looked at the long text, blinking. Well, that had been an easy case if he ever saw any. The two following texts were simply inquiries to make sure he did receive the first text, the second adding that Connor had insisted it was fit to leave for the precinct itself, but that Dr. Poitras advised against it until its GPS was back in service. Then came the first text he saw, received a bit more than an hour ago, at 10:04 am. 

Remembering the man still waiting on the other line, Hank took a sip of coffee and stated simply.

"I know where Connor is Jeff, I'm going to go get him now."

\----------

"What seems to be the problem Mr. Manfred?"

The human nurse that entered the reception area, followed by the medical android holding Carl's electronic hospitalization files, had the kind of smile reserved for kids… and senile elders. It made Carl's skin crawl. Beside him, his young friend didn't seem much more impressed, if her quirked eyebrows was anything to go by. It sure didn't help their mutual rising frustration. Nevertheless, Carl answered calmly.

"I was on my way out of here, now that my  _ chauffeur _ has arrived. Unfortunately, it seems that these poor fellows," he gestured lightly toward the two medical androids currently inspecting the IV and respirator set up on his personal wheelchair," were given the very strict instruction to not let me leave with anyone but my emergency contact, whom is unavailable at the moment. This here is her daughter."

At her mention, Maud nodded once and handed out her ID and her driver license, for good measure. "Maud Poitras. My mother is unfortunately a very busy woman and had an emergency. I came in her place." 

"Yes, I see. Let me just clear this…" pulling out the tablet from the android's hands, he confirmed the identity of his actual emergency contact. "Miss Poitras… You have your mother's name?"

"Never heard of single parent adoption?" She served the man an annoyed look. "I'm sorry, but I fail to see how my patronymic heritage is relevant to the situation…"

"Of course, I'm sorry… We must be doubly cautious with personalities like Mr. Manfred. Anyone could come in here pretending to be a friend and leave with him, ill intentioned or not."

Carl was getting more and more annoyed by this whole affair. He was old, yes, but not debilitatingly so… He was about to state as much when he felt Maud lay a friendly hand on his shoulder. With a sweet smile, that Carl knew to be forced, she mimicked the nurse own infantilizing tone "Carl is like a cranky old uncle to me, I wouldn't hurt a hair on his head. Plus, I trust his judgement in knowing who he can and can't trust. Surely you don't mean to insinuate that he is too senile to make the best decision for himself."

Carl huffed, smirking slightly at the baffled look of the nurse. Clearly, he hadn't expected to have his attitude turned against him. What he expected, they both didn't know. Maybe it was simply some kind of power trip. Anyhow, Carl had always appreciated his "niece" sarcastic bluntness. Never inconsiderate, but frank enough to let anybody know that she was not amused when she wasn't and that they were being stupid when they were. So very like her mother…

"So, may we leave before Halloween or…?"

"Yes, yes, of course. You're all clear." The blunt young lady seemed to have shut any other arguments the young nurse could have had against her presence. "S-surely you understand why we had to be especially careful with who you left with Mr. Manfred. I-I certainly didn't mean to come out as insulting."

Maud huffed and Carl sighted, waving a hand. "It's alright. I just wanna go home." 

A few minutes later, they were finally installing Carl in his adapted automated car, which Maud had brought to the hospital. Once the wheelchair was secured, she told the car to go home and let it drive away, staying behind the wheel, as the law demanded. She could not understand,for the life of hers, why automated taxi could drive themselves alone, but not owned cars and public buses…

"So… what now?" She looked at the old man in the rearview mirror and saw him musing while looking outside. He looked morose, which was to be expected. 

"I'll go home, hope for Leo to give me some news once he get out and… continue life as it was… I suppose." He shook his head, a mirthless laugh escaping his nose. "I don't even remember how life as a crippled-"

"Don't say that Carl…"

" - was before Markus. Barely had to live alone in my chair for two months before Elija brought him… He was already so alive. And then I heard about deviancy, about what your mother had done. I just knew I had to try, I had to set him free, make it so he'd be able to run and make a life for himself once I'm gone. I refused to have him sent back to Elija. I thought I could teach him to deviate…"

"It's not something you can teach Carl… but you can help and push an android in that direction, either gently or… more brutally… Markus was lucky you were there to hold his hand down the road, but he had to cross the threshold himself. And he did, probably more smoothly than many androids, he had good to compare the bad to, thanks to you."

"What good was it though? He was awake barely long enough to feel danger, conflict, anger, fear and panic… just long enough to be killed" He choked at that. "He was still stuttering my name when they took Leo and me away, his voice full of static. Just before he died- God I miss him…" he pushed the heels of his hands against his eyes, as if it could push the tears back in.

"I too Carl… I miss him too…"

It went unsaid, but they both knew the man saw a son in the caregiving android. As such, Maud saw some sort of cousin in him too. Not just because of the weird "chosen family" like affiliations the old man and her shared, buy just out of herself. She was closed to him, attached to him,even if he could not reciprocate the feeling. He was a nice soul, stuck in a alupolymer body. And now he was gone.

They rode in silence for a few minutes that seemed like hours, Maud leaving the old man to deal with his silent grief. They were both bad at showing vulnerabilities and had both come to the silent agreement of letting each other pretend that they were good at hiding them when they became too much, as long as it did not destroy them. But prefered to hide behind a mask of sarcasm and constant annoyance at the world. And art, paint for Carl, dance for herself. They trusted little people to see them in an absolute state of despair, fear or anything in the like. For Maud, it was her mother who had earned that right. For Carl, it had been Markus…

Finally, Maud heard her passenger sight lowly and she risked a glance in the rearview mirror to see the man had collected himself, his meticulously crafted calm mask back on, only his slightly red eyes still betraying his recent break down. They were once again fixed on the window, looking at everything and anything passing them by. She decided it was as good as any time to break the silence. 

"If it's any… reassurance…" 'consolation' was definitely not going to cut it, "mom already sent you a new caregiver android. An MC500, as good as new. Mom took care of it herself."

Carl smirked slightly, looking slightly at her through the rearview mirror, "I'm not even good enough for brand new?"

Maud rolled her eyes, "You know you wouldn't WANT brand new. Mom even made sure not to reset it so it would already have a bit of life to share. Goes by Adam. From what I got, its old owner was a terminally ill woman to whom he was the only friend. Treated it as such. Her children, once she passed away, not so much… They brought it to mom two days ago because it already had a file at the F.A.R.M. Asked for a full evaluation and full reset, said something about it looking weirdly saddened by their mother's departure. Mom offered them half its worth and a free repair bill in exchange for it. They agreed and that was it." She looked at him with amusement. "She might have inflated the bill a bit to make a convincing case."

"Why am I not surprised… And please say 'he'. I know he's still a machine, but still..."

"Of course, force of the habit, sorry. Anyway, he should be already at your house when we get there. I gave its- his serial number to one of the nurses while I waited for you, so it already has your medical file and whatnot. Probably already ordered your drugs too. I talked a bit with him before I left, there's a bit more to him than your average caretaker 'droids. You're gonna like him."

'Even though he's not Markus' went unsaid as the car parked itself in Carl's driveway. Sure enough, Adam was already waiting for them by the door. He had a brief exchange with Maud while he got to Carl's door, making sure he knew all he needed to know about his charge, and finally rolled the man chair to the door, all while standardly presenting himself.   
  


“Hello Mister Manfred, I’m your new medical android, model MC500. My current name is Adam, but feel free to change to your liking.”   
  
He dismissed his proposition with a wave of the hand, “You don’t go changing people’s names because you don’t like them, boy. Adam is just fine and please, enough with the Mister Manfred, that’s reserved to the people I find obnoxious. Call me Carl.”   
  
“Okay Carl. Now it is to my understanding that you should rest as much as possible, so I’ll take you to your room if it’s fine with you.”   
  
“And I’ll take my leave!” concluded Maud, understanding the politely android ‘Fuck off’. She walked to her bike that she had left near the door. She turned to Carl, who was looking at his new caretaker with a sad, unsatisfied frown on his face. He sighted and turned his attention to Maud when he heard her kick the kickstand. She looked at him with a small knowing smile.

"It's not good Carl… but it is what it is."

This earned her a small amused smile "Quoting BBC's Sherlock now?"

She shrugged, putting her helmet on, starting her bike. The nearly silent electric motor purred smoothly as it came to life. "I hate the classic 'Everything will be alright' and what not. Full of lies if you ask me. It's never that simple. Things are never alright after shit like this. You just have to make it through anyway. ‘When life gives you lemons...’ and all that, you know. Life is what it is and you must just deal with it… or not." She glared dangerously at him. "And I better not see you chose that later path old man."

He truly laughed at that, which brought some warmth to both their cores. "Don't worry dear, I still have a son to care about and I know neither you or your mother would let me go that simply. The last thing I want is to be downloaded in one of your mother's creations."

Maud frowned, "You know she would never do that…"

"I know. Take care Maud and tell your mother to take a break from time to time to visit an old friend herself, for once."

"I will. Take care too, you need this advice much more than me, old man." She smirked and lowered her visor, riding away. 

\------

As he drove there, Hank thought about what he had discovered while on the website of the Familial Android Repair Mansion, F.A.R.M. for short, which slogan was "We care about your android's  _ life _ as much as you do". The place promised people with attachment to their androids a more convivial experience then other repair shops, where "factory reset are seen as last resort" and "you can be sure YOUR android won't be replaced for another of the same model", both very common practices in Cyberlife's stores, according to the website. 

It was a load of bull if you asked Hank. It seemed to him like a nice little scam to extort money from overly attached people. There was no pricing anywhere since they "evaluate each situation independently to determine our approach and the cost of the repairs". 

On the main page of their website, Hank had had the chance to 'meet' the famous "Dr. Poitras" in their "Who are we?" video. The slender woman seemed in her early forties. Her long, loose dark auburn hair was dyed in a style he had seen briefly in his mid-twenties, oil spill it was called, or something like that. She wore a short long sleeved lab coat, a royal blue pencil skirt and black high heels. Hank sure hoped she did not actually repair androids in that getup. 

She was actually a very nice looking woman if he was honest and, of course, seemed quite amiable. A well crafted character for her well crafted scene. And he knew a thing or two about playing the part that was needed to achieve a goal. 

The facility itself seemed quite nice too: a modern countryside house looking reception building, all made of stone, wood and windows sat beside an actual, similarly styled, mansion, housing the owner of the facility, so she could be "available 24/7 for any emergencies". Those were the only two buildings accessible from the big gated driveway. The rest, actually looking like a small urban farm, complete with genuine greenhouses and coops, were the repair and readaptation installations and resident employees and androids houses/storages. A bunch of gardener androids could be seen in the background, taking care of the serenely landscaped property. All in all, it seemed like a rich rehab center…

Hank hated it.

Yet, here he was, stepping out of his oldmobile to visit the exact place. Opening the door to the “admission”, he was actually stunned by the interior decor: a rock wall, covered in plants, was taking up the whole left and back wall, a small waterfall cascading down the back-left corner and collecting in a large wooden bassin he would bet contained Koi fish. A few cushioned chairs were occupying that side of the room and large windowed double doors led back outside, to the other facilities. Yet, most impressive even was the actual ceiling to floor well populated fish tank making up the right wall. The only furniture on that side of the room was the reception desk, occupied by three android receptionists, currently giving the impression of talking amongst themselves. The whole room was bathed in sunlight, thanks to the large ceiling windows. It looked nicer than most human medical center he ever saw...

Reaching the reception, he interrupted the automatised welcomes and explained why he was there to the android. She pointed him to the main mansion. "Dr. Poitras is on lunch break at the moment, but she warned us to take you to her whenever you arrived."

Grumbling his thanks, out of habit, Hank walked over to the mansion, annoyed by all the time he was losing. Really, he could have called the scientist to get her to repair Connor and send it his way, but he was worried about the kid and wanted to see this "farm" for himself. 

Once in front of the door, a smooth feminine voice declared smoothly "Access unauthorized, please wait until the door is opened for you". Hank sighted, somehow even more annoyed by simple show of wealth the possession of an AI doorbell betrayed.

Soon enough, another android opened the door, a guarded expression on his face, probably meant to scare away unwanted visitors.

"Hello, how may I help you?"

"I'm here for Connor. Dr. Poitras texted me, she's expecting me."

The android LED cycle shortly yellow before its face morphed into a welcoming smile.

"Yes, of course. Lieutenant Anderson is it? Just this way please." It opened the door, holding it for Hank before closing it behind him. "May I take your coat?"

"No, thanks, I prefer to keep my thing with me" was his gruff reply. He looked around, the lobby of the manor was quite unimpressive compared to the center's reception. 

A greenery wall was making the separation between the lobby and what Hank supposed was the living room. The other walls were in a nice cream color, the far wall mostly occupied by a large abstract painting of… a face? Maybe an animal? It looked like an original, but Hank could not place the artist for the life of him. On the right was an open doorway to what seemed like a small library room and, next to it, a decently large ebony staircase. Only one ebony double door could be seen on the second floor. Whatever room that was, it was clearly occupied if the burst of voices coming from there was anything to go by.

The android butler interrupted his thought. "- course. The Mistress will join you in the living room, she is a bit preoccupied at the moment. If you would follow me. Can I offer you some refreshments?" It asked on the way. "We have sparkling and non-sparkling water, naturally citrus flavored if you desire, soft drinks, coffee, a large selection of loose leaves teas and I can make you freshly pressed-"

"And you're too cheap to offer me your nice selection of alcohol?" he joked.

The android seemed surprised by his request, its LED glowing yellow a few seconds. "No, terribly sorry. Giving the time… I thought you were on duty…" It seemed flustered or was it just Hank. Maybe some human-likeness protocol for butler androids? It quickly returned to its professional routine "It was wrong of me to assume anything, I beg your pardon. We do indeed have a nice selection of wine, craft beers and other alcohol. Just last friday we received a fine Scotch, directly from Scotland. A Lagavulin, 16 years of age, I am told the taste is richly smokey and-"

Hank could already feel himself salivate, but he was a man on a mission and could not be tempted to drink right now. Tonight, when Connor was safely back… wherever it spent the night, sure, but not now. He waved a hand dismissively.

"Nah, I'm fine as is. Just get me Dr. Poitras or whatever I need to get my 'droid back."

"Perfect sir, just wait here, I will get Dr. Poitras," and it left, leaving Hank to explore the room. It was… strangely honey, given the simplicity of the lobby. A fake fireplace was placed against one of the walls, just beside another large door, leading after inspection to the fairly sized dining room. You could see the fireplace from there too. The front and back walls were covered in large windows, both with window seats and the room main purpose was clearly just one of lounging and chatting, if the plush looking sofas surrounding a rustic looking coffee table was anything to go by. Two armchairs were also facing the fireplace, each with soft looking throws on them. The rest of the space was occupied by floor lamps, overlooking the seats and certain furniture.

One side table, in particular, seemed to serve the unique purpose of being a trinkets and pictures collector and, in his desire to know more about the mysterious doctor, Hank zoomed on it, crouching in front of a picture of a teen looking Véronique Poitras beside a young man in graduation robe. 

\---------

Véronique Poitras had just sent an update on one her "patient" to its owners when the door to her office flew open, her enraged daughter marching in, fuming.

" _ You did WHAT?! _ "

" _ Good morning to you too Maud, might I know what you're screaming about?" _

_ "Might you… Are you fucking serious! An RK800! THE RK800! You want us all killed?!" _

_ "Now now, don't be so dramatic. It doesn't know a thing and can't arrest, or kill, any of us. Sure, a few deviants disappeared from here, but it's nothing abnormal in this line of work." _

_ "Is that the explanation you plan on serving the Lieutenant YOU FUCKING INVITED HERE?!" _

_ "Maud, enough! Calm down! The RK800, named Connor if you wanna know-" _

_ "I don't fucking care" _

_ " - was lent to the DPD, under the care of Lieutenant Anderson. I HAD to call him. I can't LEGALLY do anything for Connor if he or Cyberlife don't agree to it and we both know I'm not calling Cyberlife until my life depends on it, and even then." _

_ "Well, just let it go as is. Seb told me it was fully operational."  _

_ "A leg less android doesn't pass as 'fully operational' Maud. Listen, it's an android, I repair androids, that's what I do. Jake brought it home, I couldn't let it just shut down in front of the boy."  _

_ "So, it's Jake fault."  _ Maud crossed her arm and lifted an eyebrow.

_ "No, you know it isn't. I don't care if it's the Deviant Hunter, Maud. We could have had a powerful asset working for us, I decided to take my chance. Sadly, it remembers its mission and assignments and is looked for, so there is nothing we can do but play along with the authorities. As far as they know, we haven't done anything wrong and they can't hurt us. I called the blue alert as soon as it rebooted and again this morning when we opened for the regular hour. Everything that had to be hidden was hidden, everyone knows to act normal." _

_ "I still hate it… I hate that you can't let THIS go!" _

_ "It's not just about this Maud!" _

A knock on the door interrupted them. Stepping in slightly, Sebastian simply stated. "Lieutenant Anderson from the DPD is waiting in the living room." 

Maud's eyes started darting around, a panicked planning expression on her face.

_ "You stop that right now young lady! Whatever you're planning, it's not happening. I'll talk to the Lieutenant and you can go do whatever you wish that does NOT imply your  _ 'Fuck the police'  _ mentality." _

Maud growled, throwing her arms in the air, beyond aggravated. 

_ "Whatever! I going to the gym, I need a session!" _

She left, slamming the door behind her. Véronique sighed, shooing Sebastian away.  _ "I'm coming" _ .

She rose, fixing her jeans and blouse and left her office. Sure enough, downstairs, scrutinizing the room like it was a murder scene, was a man whom demeanor betrayed a crime solving mind. The look though, not so much and Véronique was surprised to see a gruff looking, slightly disheveled, clearly overweight man in her house in place of the well put somewhat fit man she had imagined.  _ 'I suppose the higher the rank, the less on the field you need to go, the less in shape you need to be…' _ Still, knowing Cyberlife like she did, it was uncharacteristic for the almost eugenic company to entrust their newest prototype to less than extraordinary people. There must have been something more to the lieutenant, or to Cyberlife plans. Véronique was slightly worried for the man, if it was the later, and took a mental note to look into this later.

Putting on her best business smile, she finally made herself know. "Lieutenant Anderson I presume, I sure hope my butler treated you well while you waited."

The man rose up suddenly from where he had bent a the hip to look at her and her elder brother picture, hitting his head on the glass lampshade of the floor lamp over him. He cursed, massaging his scalp, and turned toward her with a look of mixed annoyance and guilt. She cringed sympatetically. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to suprise you. Are you alright?" 

\-----

Hank groaned a bit. Really, the day was going to be fucking long if it kept adding reason for his brain to pound in his skull like that. 

He observed the woman before him and the first thing to struck him was the sleeve of tattoos on her right arm. That and the fact that, when not in her ample doctor garbs, the scientist actually looked quite fit. Slightly defined muscles sinued down her arms. She could have easily pass for a MMA fighter. A tall one at that!

Other than that, she was very well put together: light green blouse, complimenting her moss green eyes, her hair up in a neat bun, black jeans and black shoes that he recognized from his younger metalhead years as Dr. Martens. All together, she was looking every part both ready to meet with prospecting investors and to jump in her lab coat to make an emergency repair on one of her "patient".

"Yeah yeah," was his dismissive answer as he approached. "Sorry for prying around," he said, hoping to sound genuine.

She smiled, amused, and offered her hand.

"Do not worry about that. I know what it is to have a professional deformation. Doctor Véronique Poitras. I founded and run this facility."

He took her hand. He could detect a slight accent in her speech, barely there, because of years of practice maybe. The "th" were not sounding quite alright, "doctor" was pronounced with a foreign tone to it, more like "docter", possibly voluntarily this one. Probably French, if her name was anything to go by, name that she pronounced clearly as it should have been in France. Anyhow, it was Hank's turn to speak and, well, if they were throwing titles around, might as well, "Lieutenant Hank Anderson, from the DPD."

"Nice to meet you Lieutenant." The sound of a door slamming in the back of the house resounded through the walls. "And that would be my daughter. Excuse her, she's in quite a mood today." 

"Teenager?" he asked to make some conversation while he kept inspecting the room.

"No, major if you would believe it. But sometimes I do wonder if she's not a 6'2" toddler…"

She turned to the android butler, who stood at attention by the door to the kitchen. "You have offered a refreshment to the lieutenant, right Sebastian?"

"Yes Maîtresse." Hank cringed subtly. 'Mistress', seriously? The android, of course, was oblivious to his reaction "He dismissed the offer". 

"What about lunch? It is past noon afterall."

"Don't bother, I'm just here to get my android and leave for work."

"I'm afraid it won't follow you very far." For some reason, hearing her call Connor 'it' rubbed him the wrong way. "One of its leg is still in repair… if you will let me repair it."

"One of…?! I thought you said he was good to go if not for his GPS".

For a moment, he thought she smiled knowingly at something, but it disappeared so fast that he wasn't sure if it was just is imagination.

"Yes, that was this morning. Since then, its body rejected the temporary leg I gave it and we are back to leg less android until its actual leg is repaired. Its exosquelette is unique! They mixed titanium, nothing less, in the original alupolymer of everyday android. It seems its body won't settle for nothing less than this, even temporary. Thankfully, I had some titanium on hand, for my repair on heavy work models' reinforced articulations. Its leg should be ready to reinstall in two hours." 

Two hours… Jeffrey would certainly not be happy to hear this. Because there was no way in hell he was leaving Connor alone here with this doctor. Sure, he could also bring him to Cyberlife so they took over the repairs. It was probably a better idea, afterall, Connor was a prototype and would be probably better taken care of in their labs than in this shaddy wannabe healing retreat for androids.

"What makes you think you can actually repair a sophisticated model like Connor?" he asked, waiting for the doctor to dig herself her own hole and thus proove to him and herself that she could not, indeed, repair an android the like of Connor.

What he hadn't planned was her confident, albeit innocent looking smile, while she answered, "Why, because I'm the one who created the RK serie Lieutenant!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> So, that's it! The pieces are in place! Seeeeee, that's not THAT big of a canon divergence. Our two favorite detectives would have lost Rupert either way since Connor saved Hank. 
> 
> Also, in my first play through (which I'm basing this fic' on), I sadly killed Todd. I went to get the gun first because I didn't want him to use it on Alice. So, yeah... Shit ensued... 
> 
> Next time, the story will really start, but for now, I'll leave you on this swearword :P
> 
> Kudos and comment if you liked it, if you want more, if whatever. 
> 
> Have a good one, ciao~


End file.
